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Fourth Northern-Dwarven War
Background The war came about for a variety of reasons most of which were related in some manner. England, formerly known as Oxfordshire, a large faction occupying the centre of the map, became involved in a territorial dispute with the Order. The snow biome between their nations was claimed by Oxfordshire, who had recently denied the Northmen permission to build a road through it to link them to the Order. This prompted the Order to lay claim to the snow biome, arguing that Oxfordshire was impeding their faction and the land rightfully belonged to the Order. Talks between the two nations met a dead end and war was declared on Oxfordshire by the Order. Two Northern mercenaries joined the Order. The Dwarves held a small trading outpost in the area, centred on 0,0, which the Order's map of claims would annex to their land. The Dwarves contested the map, stating their right to the trading post and its immediate surroundings. Both the Northmen and Order assured the Dwarves that the outpost would remain Dwarf-controlled in the Oxfordshire-Order conflict. The Battle of Oxford The war began following the failed negotiations between Oxfordshire and the Order for the disputed land. An Order attack force, with Northmen mercenary forces already in place, attacked the city of Oxford and routed the garrison. The city was mildly pillaged and occupied without further resistance. Dwarven Mobilisation The Dwarves declared war on the Order and sent an army north into the disputed zone. Their aims now included forcing a cease-fire upon all parties to ensure the territory was divided up fairly. They sought to ensure that Oxfordshire maintained a border with their trading post to facilitate further trade, and of course to ensure their trading post remained Dwarven. The Northmen countered with a declaration of war on the Dwarves, maintaining they had no stake in the conflict and should remove themselves from the area. Brotherhood Intervention The Brotherhood, at this point, stated their support for the Dwarven territorial claims around their trading post. While assurances had been given to the Dwarves regarding the claims, the Brotherhood was concerned that the Northmen may rescind these assurances if the war continued. The Brotherhood, not willing to see such an event, stated its support to ensure that, no matter the outcome of the current Northern-Dwarven hostilities, the trading post's sovereignty would not be in question at the peace table. A Brotherhood army was sent to garrison the trading post to ensure their declaration was taken seriously. The Siege of the Trading Post Shortly after the Brotherhood's arrival at the trading post, the armies of both the Dwarves and the combined Northern-Order army (which now included Belkan forces following their declaration of war on the Dwarves to support the Order) arrived at the Trading Post. As they arrived, the Northmen rescinded their assurance that the outpost would remain in Dwarven hands after the war, stating that they would only guarantee such a claim should the Dwarves agree to not use the outpost as a base of operations; this demand was denied. The North-Order-Belkan army arrayed outside the position, constructing field fortifications around their positions, their numbers roughly equal to that of the defending Brotherhood-Dwarven forces. The Brotherhood-Dwarven force occupied the trading post, rapidly adding further defensive measures to the position. From a single-floor hut the Post grew into a small fortress of 4 floors, thickened walls, a defensive ditch and internal fighting positions. After a long period of tense stand-off, which at times included exchanges of arrow fire, the besieging force withdrew following the Brotherhood's ultimatum of "Withdraw or War". The Dwarves then destroyed the enemy field fortifications. Dwarven Offensive The Brotherhood army having stood down following the siege, the Dwarves went mobile and began attacking enemy positions across the land. The Order's base was infiltrated and a sentry assassinated as he kept a poor watch on the position. Following this, an Order-Belkan force was destroyed when the Dwarves moved rapidly through the Nether and intercepted them at Ervingur. At this stage the Dwarves expanded their war aims to match the expanded war. Their demands now included the Order abandoning the religion of "Shaun", the Belkans renouncing their recent territorial gains on the Ottomans and giving them $5000 in reparations, and Dwarven arbitration of the Oxfordshire-Order territorial dispute. Battle of Mine Isle In the only major Northman offensive of the war, and last major action of the conflict, 6 Northman troops laid siege to the garrison of 2 Dwarves and 1 Ascension soldier on Mine Isle, site of the previous 7 Day Siege. The Ascension soldier went underground and began building siege tunnels, which would become of great importance during the later stages of the battle, while 2 Dwarven defenders held the main courtyard against the 6 Northern attackers. Time and time again Northman forces advanced on the walls and attempted to bring them down with TNT, and time and again the breaches proved ineffective. Though no losses were sustained at this point in the battle, half a dozen Northman assaults were repulsed from the walls. Throughout the battle, additional Dwarven reinforcements steadily arrived in the tunnels beneath the Mine Isle, and soon the garrison stood at 4 Dwarves and an Ascension soldier against the 6 Northmen. Magicman2051 of Ascension, the Dwarven ally, caved in the ground around a Northman soldier and killed him as he fell, disrupting the Northman assault attempts and forcing them to attempt to dig Magicman out. TNT was laid once more and a large crater made in the ground, exposing several tunnels dug by the Ascension miner. The Northmen then charger the crater, and were met with lava deployed by Magicman, setting 3 of them on fire. Seeing this, the Dwarven garrison charged from their fortifications into the crater and killed the 3 burning Northmen whilst others engaged the 3 uncommitted Northmen at the crater rim. Half their force having been wiped out, the Northmen survivors were cut down rapidly, resulting in a total Dwarven victory. Shortly afterwards, Northmen Jarl 10greenbottles was caught and killed in the hills nearby the Isle. Later, Order soldier locoDEADMAN was also killed by Dwarven forces as he scouted the battlefield. War's End Following the decisive Dwarven victory at the Battle of Mine Isle, the Northmen, badly shaken by the bloody defeat, entered into a period of turmoil. Two of their leaders, 10greenbottles and Abbews, left the North. The resulting instability took the heart out of the North, causing the despair of their allies in the Order and Belka. The alliance surrendered to the Dwarves on the same day, accepting the following demands: $5000 in payment to the Ottomans from Belka, cessation of preaching the religion of Shaun by the Order, and Dwarven arbitration of the Oxfordshire-Order land dispute, with final decision on the borders resting with them. The war saw the collapse of the Northmen as a major faction: over the days following the defeat the majority of the members left the faction at various intervals, spawning new splinter factions.